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BLACKJACK STRATEGY

Learn the blackjack tables by heart, and you will have almost equal odds with the house.
Blackjack is the casino game with the lowest casino profit margin, assuming a player plays with optimum strategy. Generally the house payout can be reduced to well under 1%.


Some basic blackjack strategy rules are as follows:

- Never split 10's
- Always split Aces and 8's
- Never take insurance
- Hit until at least 17 if the dealers card is a 10.
- Stand on hard 13-16 (without an ace), if the dealers card is 6 or under.
(One of the most common mistakes for a beginner to make is to hit on 13-16, if the dealers card is under 6 - A dealer has more chance of going bust than the player has of getting a better hand.)
- It is very advantageous to play on a blackjack table in which the dealer has to stand on Soft 17 (with an ace)
Make sure that blackjack always pays at the typical 3:2 . Some new vegas style tables have lower payouts for blackjack.


VARYING BET SIZE

One common blackjack strategy is to vary the bet size. Although it does not change the basic odds, most players try to 'ride their waves' of good fortune.
Naturally occuring patterns tend to occur where streaks occur, and many players hope to capitalise on winning streaks, by doubling up their bets - 2, 3 or 4 times in a row.

Conversely, another strategy is to double up after a run of bad cards - hoping that the run is about to come to an end.

Blackjack played perfectly over the long run offers roughly 50/50 odds with the house, which can often result in not winning or losing very much, when played at a small bet size.
Varying the bets will tend to result in sessions with bigger wins or losses than normal -
Which many players tend to prefer.

ROULETTE STRATEGY

Never play American Roulette as the wheel contains 2 zeros, compared to European Roulette with a single zero. The house edge in American roulette is double that of European roulette.

Remember the saying ' the wheel has no memory' . The electronic display near roulette wheels, showing previous results, can deceive players into thinking that they can beat the house with a version of the Martingale System - an old gambling tactic, where players double up on the next spin whenever they lose.
Remember that each new spin is a completely independent event and is not influenced by what has happened before. Even if Red has came up 10 times in a row, the probability of hitting black on the next spin is still 50/50
If a player had an unlimited bankroll, then they would eventually win their money back by doubling up. However, all casinos employ a table limit with a maximum amout that can be placed on each spin.

POKER STRATEGY


Beginners

Texas Holdem is the number one type of poker played online, and the first game to learn.
You can learn the basic rules first from hundreds of poker sites online or books.
But there is no substiture for actually playing lots of hands.
We recommend signing up at an online poker room to practice your skills
- but DO NOT play at the free tables.
Instead, play at the low limit fixed-bet tables to begin to hone your skills.

Players at free tables play completely unrealistically, calling almost every card. When real money is at stake, even for low amounts, people will begin to play normally.
You can play for as little as 0.05 a bet at the fixed limit tables, then move up the tables until you are good enough for 'no-limit' poker - the most popular form of holdem.

As you move up the tables you will realize that players play much tighter - often only playing the best starting sets of hands, eg AA, AK,AQ,AJ, KQ, high pairs, and Ace suited hands.
Good poker players generally play less than 1 in 4 starting hands.


Intermediate Players

Learn about position
The best place to be is 'on the button' - that is the player who currently holds the rotating dealer button. That way you have the advantage of seeing how everyone else has played the hand, before you make your move. You have a chance to 'steal the blinds' if everyone else has folded,
Whereas, if you have a mediocre hand with 7 players left to play, chances are you will be facing a few players that will raise or call with a better hand.

Learn about pot odds
Knowing the pot-odds helps to determine whether to 'draw' or not - whether it is worth placing a bet to try to make a hand. You can statistically calculate if it is worth trying to make your hand. The pot odds are calculated by comparing your bet size to the total size of the pot
eg 4:1 or 20%

To calculate the size of bet you can make, you have to know how many 'outs' you have and divide that by the number of unknown cards.
eg if you have a flush draw on the flop, there are 9 remaining suited cards out of 47 unknowns.

The odds of making your hand on the turn are 9/47 = 19%
Generally you should only play if you have to put a lower percentage into the pot than your chance of winning the pot. Although you still might not get your card, over the long term this is a winning strategy.

Practice and learn to adjust your play
Poker strategy changes depending on game type, how many players are in a game, how the other players are playing, and the size of the blinds.
When playing 'heads-up' or 1 on 1 poker, you obviously have to play more frequently with hands that you would normally fold. As you play more you will learn how you have to play looser, tighter or more aggressively to take advantage of certain situations.

Poker Strategy - click here for a handy guide to some online holdem poker tactics and strategies.

Best poker starting hands
A-A, K-K, Q-Q, J-J, 10-10, A-K suited, AQ suited, AJ suited, KQ suited, AK offsuit

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